These little practices keep your knee healthy and flexible.
Today arthritis, osteoporosis, and lack of muscle strength have become a household name as almost every aged person in a house is going through some other joint pain. With less bone density, less lubrication and lack of muscle strength, joints become very vulnerable with age. And one of the most affected joints being the knees.Besides being the largest joint in the human body, the knees are unique themselves because it involves complex motion and with time a certain amount of wear and tear on these joints is inevitable. Thus, it is important for all elderly people to take good care of their knees. These five practices will prevent your knees from deteriorating.
Maintaining your weight
Most of the time people suffer pain in the knee because of their heavyweight, excess weight places tremendous pressure on your knee which may cause pain, dislocation, wear and tear. That is why it is advisable to maintain a decent amount of body weight as you age. Even a 10 kg weight loss can make an enormous difference.
Physical Activity is important
As people grow old their movements become much restricted and they hardly spend any time in the gym. Where gym is not necessary for exercise, a complete rest to the knees may also do harm to the knees. Regular physical activity like walking, yoga, jogging, all of these helps maintain joint function, including strength and range of motion in the knees, which ultimately means less force gets applied to the knee. Thus to keep your body joints healthy and flexible.
Keep a straight posture
Many times we unknowingly keep our body in such a posture that exerts more pressure on the knees. So it is always advisable to keep a straight posture with your head in line with your shoulders, your shoulders directly over your hips, your hips aligned with your knees, and your knees aligned with your feet. Poor posture changes your body's centre of gravity, placing added stress on your knees and hips.
Go for comfortable shoes
When we are young, we often go for fancy good looking shoes, without thinking much about comfort. But that shouldn’t be in the case of aged adults. Rather aged or not, everyone should account for comfortability while buying shoes. Wearing supportive, comfortable shoes promotes proper alignment of the joints in your lower extremities as you move. And every purpose has its own kind of shoe. Like for jogging and exercise, use sneakers, otherwise wear flats, avoid heels.
